Lecture with subject "An international trade between Rio de la Plata and Cuba: the story of tasajo trade"
Speakers:
Nadia Fernandez de Pinedo, Universidad Autonoma de Madrid
Maximiliano Camarda, Universidad de Entre Rios, Argentina
This presentation examines the late-colonial and early post-independence trade of tasajo and salted beef from the Port of Buenos Aires to Cuba in 19th century. Using systematic evidence drawn from La Gaceta Mercantil—a daily newspaper that recorded ship arrivals, departures, flags, consignees, and cargoes—we reconstruct maritime circulation, identify the main commercial actors involved, and estimate the volumes and composition of shipments.
We situate this traffic within the broader expansion of Río de la Plata salting establishments (saladeros) and the rising Cuban demand for cheap protein linked to the growth of the sugar economy and enslaved labor. After the disruptions caused by the wars of independence and the conflict with Brazil (1825–1828), the direct Buenos Aires–Cuba connection was gradually re-established and increasingly specialized. Our findings show that Cuba absorbed a substantial share of the tasajo exports recorded in the source, with shipments typically larger and more concentrated than those directed to Brazilian ports, where salted beef tended to travel alongside a wider basket of goods. We also document a marked predominance of large, ocean-going vessels—often under the U.S. flag—on the Cuba route, and a shift in consignment patterns toward internationally connected commercial houses, including actors such as John C. Zimmermann.
Overall, tasajo trade formed a transatlantic “protein circuit” linking productive transformation in the Río de la Plata to labor regimes and consumption structures in Cuba, while illuminating the role of merchant networks and geopolitical shocks in shaping commodity flows.